Christmas is just a few weeks away. Some of us have already begin our annual pilgrimage to the U.S. Post Office, to mail gifts and cards to loved ones who live across the country, (or across the world), from where we do. You can get a form of insurance to protect some of those parcels.
The closer it gets to Christmas, the more likely it is that you will end up visiting the U.S. Post Office. Many of us mail a multitude of holiday cards to friends and family that are scattered out across America, (or around the globe). Lots of people do their Christmas shopping slightly early, so they can mail those gifts out to relatives, and have the packages arrive in time for the holiday.
There is another reason why people are making extra trips to the Post Office at this time of year. It has become rather convenient to sell items through websites like eBay and Etsy. A person can start a store, or can list the goods that he or she wishes to sell. Someone will buy them. Now, the seller has to find a way to ship those items to that buyer. The U.S. Post Office is a good solution to that problem.
If you are interested in selling something, now is the time to do it. People are looking for gifts to send to their relatives. My husband has been selling off parts of his record collection through eBay. As a result, we have been making frequent trips to the Post Office.
Did you know that the U.S. Post Office offers a form of insurance? You can insure your package for up to $5,000 against potential loss or damage. The price of the insurance is based upon the price of the item that you are buying the insurance for.
There are two types of insurance that you can purchase from the U.S. Post Office. One is for “Domestic Claims”, which means that it can be used on items that you are shipping from one location, to another location, within the United States. The other type is “International Claims”, which means that it can be used on items that you are shipping from the United States to a person who is located in a foreign country.
Start by filling out the proper form while you are at the U.S. Post Office. The postal worker can help you to figure out which of the many forms available at the Post Office is the one that you should be using. If everything goes as it is supposed to, then this will be the only thing that you have to do, (other than paying for the insurance).
If something goes wrong, things change. Let’s say you send a package to your relative, and you bought insurance on that package. Your relative opens the box, and find that the item has been damaged during the shipping process. He or she then takes the box, and the item, back to the nearest Post Office. Since you bought insurance on that package, your relative can be reimbursed for the cost of the item.
Image by Blake Hall on Flickr